I have moved my posts from "1st Gear" to here because it seems more fitting.

I have just taken the bate and have sprung for a BlueTraks system. Found this on the web and called them. Went to see everything at FRY's, too. Just bolt on junk. Bluetraks told me of a dealer in my area so I went to visit them today. This bluetraks thing is awesome. BlueTooth, ipod, navigation all in one. Touchscreen LCD. Slick installation. I saw it on their "sound board" and tried it. Unbelievable!!! They said they had already done several in Mini's and other cars. So, I did it. I splurged. I have an appointment to install tomorrow. I'll keep you posted. Hoping for the best!!!

 

Oh, ic ic, sounds good! Post some pics and let us know how it works. Good luck!

 

Heh, the photo on the right of their website is even an R53

 

This is by far the most impressive thing I have ever seen. I have seen nothing else like in on the market. Everythng works as the installer and manual says, and it is really easy to use. Looking at the pics, I guess I forgot to take some of the pairing and phone functions. Let me know if any of you want some shots of those. OK, took it in on thursday and the AUX cable hadn't arrived from BMW so told me to come back today. Still hadn't arrived, so they said they would install a Denison Aux input, which apparently fools the radio into thinking it is playing a CD. They told me to come back when the cable comes in and they would swap it out while I wait. Well with that in mind here are a few pics....

[IMG]file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Alex%20Na/My%20Documents/My%20Pictures/mini-cooper_install/MiniForBlog/For%20Web/DSCN4029.JPG[/IMG]

 

So I have a couple of questions, because their website literally has zero information..

1) Does the audio for the iPod and the bluetooth work through the head unit?
2) Do iPod track titles/artists show up on the head unit when played?
3) Is that the only location it can be installed?
4) What was the cost, if you don't mind my asking?

 

Since I don' know how to attach more here's another update.....

Well sorry, I also don't know how to caption the pics after reviewing them. Let me know if anyone wants more info...I'm happy to provide it. I'm off right now to go play with the new toy. It's so amazing...the screen even dims when the headlights come on!

Cruzin in the MCS!

 

Hi MLWagner79,
Just got back from a run with the BlueTraks, better then awsome.
To answer your questions;
1) the ipod audio is thru the head unit, the handsfree audio (cell phone and GPS) is thru a speaker provided by BlueTraks. It is mounted by the steering column in the footwell. You can adjust the volume via the BT211. Seems loud enough. The head unit mutes when the nav or phone is active.
2) everthing from the iPod shows up on the BT211 screen just like on the iPod. All selections are made via the BT211. The "now playing" screen comes up on the BT211 when a selection is made.
3) Don't know, didn't ask. Seems that BlueTraks provides the mounting panel for this location. It is really very practical. The GPS announces the turn-by-turn info (after muting the stereo) so after using it (granted for one night) you really never need to look at the screen after programming the destination. I generally left it on the iPod screen.
4) The cost of the system was 1299 with the Nav and the install took 2hrs. I don't know what the BMW Aux cable set costs since it has yet to be installed. The dealer said that without Nav it was 799 + install.

 

Interesting...thanks for the details! It looks very cool and I don't think I've seen anything quite like it on the market.

 

Well, the installer called and said that the BMW aux cable had come in. So went back to him to have it installed. Interestingly, I had noise in the audio path for the iPod. Kind of a heart beat when the volume is up but nothing playing or in between tracks and I was a bit disappointed. When he swapped out the Denison aux input and installed the BMW-mini aux cable the noise vanished! So, I'm happy again.

Drove my MCS all weekend long...great car. Used the Bluetraks a lot. The handsfree phone function is really quite good. I have 3 phones, a MOT E815, an LG vx8600, and a blackberry pearl. All of them paired and worked perfectly. All of them support voice and that's really all I used even though there is a touchscreen keyboard for dialing. The bluetraks doesn't download the phonebook but really not needed, just say who you want to dial and off it goes. Even searches for closest matching name if your not sure. This is how advanced phones are these days. The iPod is really great. Plug it in and forget it (in the glove box). The bluetraks takes care of charging. The interface is very iPod like. There are selection screens and a now playing screen. It's operation is flawless. The gps navigator (which was optional) is a navigator, you know does what everybody elses does. It doesn't offer subscription based tmc, but I don't travel in a very congested areas, but I'm sure many of you roadwarriors do. The GPS got me where I wanted to go in a reasonably direct manner. All the messages from the unit come through the handsfree speaker that the phone uses and are very load and clear, it even mutes the radio when it is ready to announce a turn or direction. The text-to-speech is good, tells you how far to the turn, what direction, and the actual street name! All in all a great unit. It takes care of hands-free (california law soon), great iPod interface, and GPS. My MCS did't have the navigator, so this is a perfect solution for me. I suppose that this would even be interesting for mini's that do have the nav. since you can get the bluetraks without nav. Think of it, two LCD screens running at once and both look factory!